Matisyahu’s Jewish floetry prevails At first glance, it would seem as though Matisyahu is a huge practical joke put out to see if people will really pay attention to a notion as bogus as a Jewish rapper. But surprisingly, orthodox Jewish rapper Matisyahu, real name Matthew Miller, seems to have found a shtick that, well, [...]

Dreadlock holiday for Third World Roots reggae – the most pure form of the genre – runs through Steven “Cat” Coore’s blood. But over the years many purists have doubted it because his band, Third World, played a style of preened reggae that mixed in pop, rock, and R&B. They were seemingly dead-set on crossover [...]

Marley Family Ready To Reggae It happened in Jamaica in 2002. It was followed by another in Miami the following year and one in Ethiopia last year. Next week Friday, February 3 Bob Marley, the reggae legends birthday celebrated in grand concerts at the three venues mentioned above will be repeated in the Garden City [...]

Damian Marley to meld reggae styles in Aspen The child of reggae king Bob Marley and 1976 Miss World Cindy Breakspeare, Marley lived in two worlds: his father’s musical realm, which revolved around downtown Kingston, Jamaica, and his mother’s well-to-do uptown existence. Halfway Tree is the name of the roundabout that separates downtown from uptown [...]

UB40 mixes new songs with old gems on latest album Twenty-five years after their recording debut, Britain’s venerable pop-reggae group UB40 _ perhaps best known for the chart-toping 1984 remake of “Red, Red Wine” _ smartly plays to its strengths with politically minded originals alongside reworked pop and reggae classics on “Who You Fighting For.” [...]

Mad Professor (Interview) Seattle Weekly: Ariwa Sounds, your label based in South London, has released over 200 albums. What year did it start? Mad Professor: I started my recording studio in 1979 and the label started in March of 1981. The first single we put out was “Come Back Again” by a singer named Sgt. [...]

Vegas’ Taxi Fare scores big in Japan Fresh from his recent series of club dates in Japan, Mr Vegas is brimming with excitement about his latest chart topper Taxi Fare. The single which was produced by Richard ‘Shams’ Browne for the B-Rich label, is sitting comfortably inside the top 10 of the local charts.

Rebel! This lady eloped from home to play music At the peak of her career in Kano where she once lived, female reggae musician Quincy Ocheme was so hot in demand that promoters who failed to feature her on their concerts paid dearly. Such erring promoters usually ended up with a tale of woes as [...]

Here comes RawSun “Who is RawSun?” That was the question late last year as a Honolulu public relations firm announced the arrival of the reggae hip-hop artist and the release of his new album, “Rated R,” on the independent Hard Eight Records. An additional question should’ve been “Where is RawSun from?” Was he a product [...]

Matisyahu live, dynamic CD Well, it’s time to venture down the listening avenue of life and review a CD for all to hear. The Matisyahu album, “Live at Stubb’s,” is something very unique in the realm of music. By that, I mean reggae music fronted by the lyrical styling of rap with a Jewish/spiritual message. [...]